Rubrik, a data security company, announced the appointment of Chris Krebs as Chair of its new CISO Advisory Board. In this role, Krebs will create and lead a strategic CISO advisory board to help private, and public sector organizations tackle the unprecedented growth of cyberattacks, including ransomware. A founding partner of the Krebs Stamos Group, Krebs most recently served as the first director of CISA and brings distinguished expertise on cybersecurity on a global scale — from a federal and organizational perspective.

Krebs joined the Department of Homeland Security in 2017 after several years on Microsoft’s U.S. Government Affairs team, where he led the company’s U.S. policy work on cybersecurity and technology issues. He also is a non-resident senior fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center and a senior Newmark fellow in cybersecurity at The Aspen Institute.

In his new role, Krebs will work with Rubrik to assemble some of the nation’s top CISOs across multiple industries, from healthcare to critical infrastructure to financial services and others. With a focus on the future of cybersecurity, the board’s mission will be to facilitate information exchange and thought leadership in data security and deliver key insights to guide data security product innovation. 

“Over the last 10 years, we’ve seen a steady rise in cyberattacks of all stripes, but cybercrime, in particular, has really become the most pressing digital risk to any organization. One way to think about it is if you’re participating in the global digital economy, then you’re on the playing field for ransomware gangs,” said Krebs. “We’ve seen attacks range from local impacts to truly nationally significant events, which should reinforce that every organization out there has to consider how to best secure their data, their customers, and on a larger scale, the nation... I’m excited to be working closely with Rubrik to recruit top information security experts and practitioners to fight cybercrime and shape a more secure and resilient digital future.”